Preparation and Characterization of Plant Extract-Loaded PVA/GO Nanocomposite Films for Food Packaging

Abstract

Antibacterial agents produced from plant extracts are seen as a promising application in food packaging. Essential oil extracts, on the other hand, often have drawbacks such as long-term instability, limited bioavailability, and fast burst release. This study’s primary goal was to develop poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA)/graphene oxide (GO) nanocomposite films for use in food packaging, utilizing moringa (M) and guava (G) leaf extracts. The characteristics of polymer films were enhanced by adding a small quantity of GO as a reinforcing filler, and then adding phenolic and flavonoid compounds as antibacterial agents. First, GO and plant extracts were dispersed through the use of ultrasonication. Next, all chemicals were introduced in the PVA matrix with the use of a straightforward and eco-friendly solution casting approach. Water was used as the solvent for this process. As a consequence of these findings, PVA/GO/M3% films demonstrated superior tensile strength (73.63 MPa), % elongation at break (641.94%), and modulus (23.84 MPa) in comparison to neat PVA films. The GO was an effective reinforcing filler, while phenolic and flavonoid compounds were, respectively, crystallization agents. They were distributed randomly in the PVA matrix with no preferred orientation and some agglomeration. Furthermore, the antibacterial activity of the synthetic films loaded with M and G leaf extracts was low when tested against Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus).

Keywords

• product innovation
• polymer nanocomposites
• poly(vinyl alcohol)
• graphene oxide
• plant extract
• mechanical properties